Nine Golds, Nine Faces of Durga

India has so far secured 16 gold medals at the Asian Games, with Indian women playing a decisive role in 12 of them. On Friday, the daughters of India added four more golds to the country’s tally.

With nine gold medals now won by Indian women in their own right, their achievement, on the advent of Navratri, stands as a golden salute to their strength, courage and determination.

Kakamigahara: India ended a 44-year wait for the Asian Games women’s hockey gold and qualified for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with a performance built on one stunning strike and an extraordinary rearguard action, upstaging defending champions and Olympic silver-medallists China 1-0 in the final here on Friday. Lalremsiami’s superb reversestick strike in the 10th minute gave India the lead, but it was goalkeeper Bichu Devi’s heroics and a defence that refused to yield that ultimately settled the final. With China throwing everything at them, India absorbed wave after wave of pressure, putting their bodies on the line to protect their slender advantage and complete a memorable triumph. For India, the victory delivered two long-awaited prizes – their first Asian Games women’s hockey gold since 1982 and direct qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics, a key target for coach Sjoerd Marijne’s side.

The final began an hour behind schedule after the team buses of both finalists were caught in a traffic snarl caused by an accident unrelated toeither side. But once the contest got underway, India made their mark early and then showed the resilience to withstand everything China threw at them. The breakthrough came when Sakshi Rana threaded a pass into the circle to find Lalremsiami near the goal. The forward made no mistake, unleashing a fierce reverse-stick hit on the run that sent the ball crashing into the upper netting, leaving the Chinese goalkeeper with no chance. It was a goal of outstanding quality and an early statement of intent from India, who had begun the contest with purpose against an opponent that had claimed silver at the Paris Olympics. China enjoyed marginally greater possession in the opening exchanges, but India’s compact defensive structure made it difficult for them to create clear openings. India had already weathered an early setback when Baljeet Kaur was shown a green card in the sixth minute, leaving them a player short for two minutes.

Indian women’s recurve archery team conquer 10-time Olympic champs

Nagoya: The women’s recurve team’s stunning win over 10-time Olympic champions South Korea for a historic gold headlined a highly productive day for India in the Asian Games archery competition where the men’s recurve and mixed recurve squads signed off with commendable silver medals. The strong recurve performance comes after the compound archers completed a golden sweep in all the team competitions India have so far secured seven medals, including four gold, two silver and a bronze, in the archery event here. The first medal of the day for the Indian contingent came via the women’s recurve trio of Ankita Bhakat, Kirti Sharma and 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod, who held their nerve in challenging windy conditions to outshoot the defending champions 5-3 (54-54, 56-56, 55-51, 54-54) and script a memorable triumph

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